A Brodmann area is a region in the brain cortex defined in many different species based on its cytoarchitecture. Cytoarchitecture is the organization of the cortex as observed when a tissue is stained for nerve cells.

Brodmann areas were originally defined by Korbinian Brodmann and referred to by numbers from 1 to 52. Some of the original areas have been subdivided further and referred to, e.g., as "23a" and "23b". The same number in different species does not necessarily represent structurally homologous areas.